CompTIA Tech+
IT fundamentals for career starters
5
Modules
150
Practice Questions
4
Field Missions
FC0-U71
CompTIA
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Exam Details
Free Preview — Module 1
Module 1 — Fundamental IT Concepts and Notational Systems
Start your IT career with the concepts that underlie everything: what computers do, how binary works, how data is measured, and the CPU-memory relationship.
What Computers Actually Do
Input, Processing, Output, Storage — the four fundamental operations every computer performs, from smartphones to servers.
Binary and Number Systems
Base-2 binary, base-16 hexadecimal, positional notation, and converting between number systems as IT professionals must.
Data Representation and Units of Measurement
How text (ASCII/Unicode), images (pixels/color depth), and audio (sampling rate) are digitally encoded — plus KB, MB, GB, TB.
CPU, Memory, and the Fetch-Execute Cycle
How the CPU fetches, decodes, and executes instructions; why RAM capacity affects speed; and what L1/L2/L3 cache does.
Sample Practice Questions
Question 1
A user complains that their computer runs fine immediately after startup but becomes progressively slower as they open more applications throughout the day. Which component is most likely being exhausted?
As more applications open, RAM fills. When exhausted, the system uses virtual memory (paging) on the much slower hard drive, causing progressive slowdown. CPU cache is managed automatically; storage capacity affects saving files, not performance.
Question 2
What is the decimal value of the binary number 10110?
10110 = 16 + 4 + 2 = 22. Reading right to left: position 1 (value 2) is 1, position 2 (value 4) is 1, position 3 (value 8) is 0, position 4 (value 16) is 1. 16+4+2=22.
Question 3
A storage device retains its data when the computer is powered off. Which category of storage does this describe?
Non-volatile storage retains data without power. Hard drives, SSDs, and flash drives are all non-volatile. Volatile storage (like RAM) loses data when power is removed.
Full course includes 5 modules, 150 practice questions, and 4 field missions.
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